Oliva Serie V Maduro Torpedo (49NRW)

[saltbox]

I had planned on following up the Monte 2 with a CoRo from the same first CC purchase ever, but a cigar I had in between smoked so terribly unexpectedly that I didn't feel good about smoking the CoRo if my palate was off for some reason. I ended up choosing something not particularly exciting but was at least a known quantity to see if something weird was going on. I was into cigars in the mid-late 2000's, and then ended up leaving them behind for several years before picking it up again recently. Oliva Serie V's were the hot new thing back then, so when I came back to cigars I picked up a few boxes to jump start the collection. Of all the cigars I've had, this one really smells the most like an actual barnyard floor with hints of manure in the aroma.

First third: opens with a bready starchy note, kind of like plain pasta, earth, with a touch of unsweetened cocoa powder on the finish

Middle third: a savory hickory-like flavor appears and takes over the flavor profile through the middle third

Last third: the hickory notes fade a bit and allow dark chocolate to come through on the finish, and nearing the end the dark chocolate goes from an almost powdery texture to a more creamy fudge like consistency

Overall: meh, it was okay, but at least there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with my palate. Oliva Serie V was crazy popular in the NC world a decade and a half ago, but having come back to cigars recently, the blends just seem outdated to me. They're not particularly flavorful or exciting compared to what else is going on in the world of NCs now. They are at least consistently well constructed. The Melanio is much better, and the original Serie V seems to at least improve a bit with age, but the maduros are just boring. 85/100

[Bill Hayes]

I like the Serie V Melanio but not maduro in Oliva for me. Thanks for the heads up.

[clickbangdoh]

I haven't had the Maduro V since the 2008(9?) First release. Thought they were rather bland compared to the standard V of the time when new, nice to know that I was right not to age them. I never searched out more.